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Help! Our Wedding Photographer Didn’t Show!

Reclining Bouquet

The Young Couple

The Groom stood at the altar next to the pastor and his best man. His mouth was dry; him palms sweaty. To the others, he tried to put on an appearance of calmness, almost a zen-like coolness. He was failing.

The Bride arrived at the church. Finally. She was later than she planned to be. Ascending the stairs she recalled her soon-to-be husband's warning to her to not be late. "If you're late, I'm walking out," he joked. He was joking, right?

The sanctuary doors opened. She glided in. The crowd rose and turned toward her. He, still at the altar, craned his neck to see her, all nervousness forgotten. Down the aisle she glided, basking in the warmth of gathered smiles, until finally she took his hand and smiled at him.

They exchanged vows and declared their undying love for each other.

After the guests exited to church, the now Wife leaned over to her Husband's ear and in hushed but earnest tones asked,

"Did you notice anything peculiar during the ceremony? Anyone missing?"

Her husband, turned the question over in his mind, unsure of whether it was a trick question. Mentally he replayed the ceremony and reviewed the faces of assembled friends and family before answering, "No".

"We don't have a photographer. He never showed up."

If you are like us, your heart goes out to this young couple. Imagine the stress of having a vendor not show up on what should be the most important day of your life, and to have that vendor be the photographer no less. The person responsible for chronicling all of the days events. By the way, the photographer didn't just miss the ceremony, he missed the entire day. Wow!

Fortunately, the young couple's story ends okay. They have photographs of their wedding day thanks to many friends and family members with cameras. Their ceremony happened in the days of film, so they have plenty of prints to reminisce over. You gotta love prints!

The couple do have professional wedding portraits, but the photographs were made six weeks after the ceremony. Their photographer re-staged part of the day, at his expense, to make amends for missing their actual wedding day. Not ideal, but under the circumstances, the gesture was appreciated.

Earlier we asked you to imagine the stress of having a vendor not show up. We asked you to imagine, because we don't have to. We were the young couple above.

Customer Service is King and Queen

We don't share our wedding day story to shame our photographer, to ask for your sympathy, or to frighten you. We share it to let you know that we understand your anxiety when a vendor you've hired doesn't return your phone calls, especially after large sums of money are committed for a once-in-a-lifetime event. It's not fun; not at all.

We understand that you don't buy photographic services every day. We understand your uncertainty. What questions should you ask? Should you trust the answers? We understand and we are here to help you every step of the way.

Our wedding day story is the reason we commit to communicate with you regularly. We'll reach out to you to say "hi", to answer your "oh, since I have you on the phone" questions, or most importantly to remind you know that you are important to us.

When it comes to photography, your only job is to relax and let your worry about the rest.